By DAVIN McHENRY, Californian staff writer
e-mail: dmchenry@bakersfield.com
Wednesday February 26, 2003, 10:55:00 PM
A Kern County supervisor is taking a local state senator to task for a proposal that would ban all dairies within three miles of any school or urban area.
Supervisor Ray Watson, whose district includes much of the west side, has complained about the proposed buffer, which was introduced Friday by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter.
The ban was part of a 10-part package of legislation aimed at improving air quality. The legislative blitz also included proposals to tighten restrictions on farming-related pollution, wood-burning fireplaces and dirty cars.
But it was the dairy buffer that Watson said raised his ire.
County supervisors considered an identical buffer zone in January and rejected it as being too "arbitrary."
Instead, Watson said he wants customized buffers around cities that could be closer than three miles in some places and farther in others.
A buffer should take into account the size of a dairy, growth patterns of the community, wind patterns and technological improvements, he said. The limit should also apply to other types of animal industries such as feedlots or chicken farms, he said.
Using those kinds of factors, the limits could be closer than three miles in some places and farther in others, Watson said. Shafter and Wasco city officials are already drafting similar buffers and are expected to present them to the county Planning Commission.
"This is a local planning issue and it should remain so," Watson said. "Kern County should not allow the state to usurp the authority of local governments to establish land use policies."
Such criticism is premature -- and somewhat hypocritical, Florez said.
"We wouldn't even be having this discussion if Ray Watson really believed in local control," Florez said.
The senator said Shafter and Wasco leaders were strongly in favor of a three-mile buffer around their cities, but that county supervisors didn't heed the request when they shot down the limit in January.
"Those city councils spoke loud and clear. They didn't want dairies within three miles," Florez said. "Why shouldn't their voice count? Would we even be talking about this if someone wanted to put a dairy three miles from Westchester? Or from the bluffs? The only difference is that there is a senator who happens to live in Shafter."
Florez also deflected criticism that his legislation is arbitrary, saying that the bill is still in the early stages.
Over the next 30 days, Florez said he expects to have extensive talks with the dairy industry and affected communities about how the final legislation should read.
"I'm having representatives from the dairy industry come in and talk to me (Wednesday)," he said. "I think Supervisor Watson ought to understand how the legislative process works."
The final bill could have a limit smaller or larger than three miles, Florez said.
And there could be many more provisions, such as requiring city councils or school districts to vote on a buffer before it would take effect.
The bill also could end up with some provisions to help the dairy industry, such as a ban on "reverse encroachment," Florez said.
In the end, Florez said he envisions a final bill that not only keeps dairies away from homes and schools, but also protects the milk producers from encroachment by residents. One possibility would be to make the buffer work both ways, prohibiting new homes or schools from being built within prescribed distances of a dairy.
"Who was there first, the school or the dairy?" Florez said. "In my bill, whoever is there first wins."
Florez said he plans to hold a hearing May 2 at Shafter City Hall on dairies and their effects on the valley's air pollution.